Sunday, 20 February 2011
Lambing
This morning we went to see the newborn lambs at a local organic farm. They had several hundred sheep in the flock. The ewes had loads of lambs and all were adorable. We saw some that were 5 minutes old with the umbilical and placenta still on show. Fresh hay was being given to the ewes and there were lots of lambs skipping about with their dangly tales. I got several large bags of lambs' wool to use for needlefelting and dyeing. It's of no use for spinning because it's a second shearing (too short). However, I was so happy because I got it for free.
Tuesday, 15 February 2011
Not To School
Springy went to school today. She tried it, she stayed for the whole day, left the building and isn't wanting to go back. All I can say is hooray. I had a great day - cleaned out some cupboards, did a Flylady hotspot thing, did some studying and got some work done. I've not had a day off for ages so it was nice. I got a holiday. I took time, had space in my head, sat down with a cup of tea in the quiet, took my supplements, made a few calls, ate lunch, took Lily for a walk and so on - in fact most of the things I do on a regular day but normally there is a 9-year old bouncing about (with the occasional sullen face on for the oh so melancholic 9-year change).
I think a lot of people think I'm mad for home educating. I homebirthed. I was mad for doing that. There were dangers apparently and I was putting the baby at risk. My ante-natal classes were booked in by the hospital after my due date! That was the first oddity that made me wonder whether the hospital knew what they were doing and I remember the phonecall to ask whether some mistake hadn't been made. Surely several weeks after my due date means that I won't be needing the classes. Oh, so that's just how it is. Thank goodness our independent birth counsellor, who kindly did a pay it forward scheme when we were too broke to pay for the classes at the time. We had some amazing classes with her learning about gravity, about active birthing etc. That's what we wanted and we didn't trust the hospital to do anything that we wanted so we had 2 amazing midwives who came to our home, who along with the aforementioned IBC were the three wise women who attended Springy's birth along with her daddy and I (well our IBC left for dinner but she sat with me all the while until my contractions got to the stage where she said "Go and call your midwives.").
Nappies - questioned = diaper free or infant elimination communication. Formula - questioned = breastfeeding. There are other things that I do that I hate doing or have been manipulated into because I know they're all trickery - smoke and mirrors but I just do/did them regardless even though I ought to know better and change.
Anyway, we get to home education. Many people assume that home education means your child stays at home all day and doesn't have a clue as to how to mix with other children or people. It's a common misconception. Springy walked into that school on Monday and knew loads of children in so many different classes, across the ages. When she was 4 it would have destroyed her, when she was 5 she wouldn't have been ready but at 9 years she went in with sniffles from a cold but confidence. She went for a full day today, from 8.50 am to 3.15 pm. It was all right but she doesn't want to go back. It wasn't that the school was bad or that the children were mean etc - it was all okay - they were very pleasant to her (mainly because she knows through various activities children in about 5/6 schools in the area) - but she had expectations of school (because of all the PR that she has been given by the anti-home-education brigade - that school is great and much better than home education) that 'school' couldn't live up to. I reckon if the teacher had come in with homemade cookies, playing rock guitar, with a soft voice like Miss Honey in Mathilda and they had all gone off site to a lambing event and breaktime had been the whole afternoon of free play then they would have roped her in and I'd have willingly gone along with it. But that didn't happen...
She's been told not to complain to me anymore that I'm boring (because of all the build up she has had that school is exciting and wonderful and full of amazing feats of edutainment) because the work they gave her today in maths was the 1x and 5x tables (which may have been not to frighten her but they could have actually talked to her and found out that way that she is capable of going beyond that now). Not only that but it wasn't teaching but just involved sticking her in front of a computer and not her choice (I'm not against boredom because it leads to creativity but this was boredom without a chance for that). Her favourite bit was break time. Even the toilets were not as nice as home (which I found very surprising - I keep my toilets clean but I have to remain ever watchful!).
And so I live in hope that I will not hear about Springy needing to go to school again. She is 9 years old. She tried it. I've now been told a day isn't long enough. It was long enough - they had a day to make a good impression and they failed. It didn't wow her, it didn't move her or inspire her. It didn't change her life or her perspective. There wasn't a moment that made her feel the Universe. I know there are good schools out there with brilliant teachers but home education for us works just as school works for others. We've had moments of wonder and surprise. It's our life and we love it and if I ever get down again, lose my confidence and let things get to me can you please all kick me in the rear end. :)
xxx
I think a lot of people think I'm mad for home educating. I homebirthed. I was mad for doing that. There were dangers apparently and I was putting the baby at risk. My ante-natal classes were booked in by the hospital after my due date! That was the first oddity that made me wonder whether the hospital knew what they were doing and I remember the phonecall to ask whether some mistake hadn't been made. Surely several weeks after my due date means that I won't be needing the classes. Oh, so that's just how it is. Thank goodness our independent birth counsellor, who kindly did a pay it forward scheme when we were too broke to pay for the classes at the time. We had some amazing classes with her learning about gravity, about active birthing etc. That's what we wanted and we didn't trust the hospital to do anything that we wanted so we had 2 amazing midwives who came to our home, who along with the aforementioned IBC were the three wise women who attended Springy's birth along with her daddy and I (well our IBC left for dinner but she sat with me all the while until my contractions got to the stage where she said "Go and call your midwives.").
Nappies - questioned = diaper free or infant elimination communication. Formula - questioned = breastfeeding. There are other things that I do that I hate doing or have been manipulated into because I know they're all trickery - smoke and mirrors but I just do/did them regardless even though I ought to know better and change.
Anyway, we get to home education. Many people assume that home education means your child stays at home all day and doesn't have a clue as to how to mix with other children or people. It's a common misconception. Springy walked into that school on Monday and knew loads of children in so many different classes, across the ages. When she was 4 it would have destroyed her, when she was 5 she wouldn't have been ready but at 9 years she went in with sniffles from a cold but confidence. She went for a full day today, from 8.50 am to 3.15 pm. It was all right but she doesn't want to go back. It wasn't that the school was bad or that the children were mean etc - it was all okay - they were very pleasant to her (mainly because she knows through various activities children in about 5/6 schools in the area) - but she had expectations of school (because of all the PR that she has been given by the anti-home-education brigade - that school is great and much better than home education) that 'school' couldn't live up to. I reckon if the teacher had come in with homemade cookies, playing rock guitar, with a soft voice like Miss Honey in Mathilda and they had all gone off site to a lambing event and breaktime had been the whole afternoon of free play then they would have roped her in and I'd have willingly gone along with it. But that didn't happen...
She's been told not to complain to me anymore that I'm boring (because of all the build up she has had that school is exciting and wonderful and full of amazing feats of edutainment) because the work they gave her today in maths was the 1x and 5x tables (which may have been not to frighten her but they could have actually talked to her and found out that way that she is capable of going beyond that now). Not only that but it wasn't teaching but just involved sticking her in front of a computer and not her choice (I'm not against boredom because it leads to creativity but this was boredom without a chance for that). Her favourite bit was break time. Even the toilets were not as nice as home (which I found very surprising - I keep my toilets clean but I have to remain ever watchful!).
And so I live in hope that I will not hear about Springy needing to go to school again. She is 9 years old. She tried it. I've now been told a day isn't long enough. It was long enough - they had a day to make a good impression and they failed. It didn't wow her, it didn't move her or inspire her. It didn't change her life or her perspective. There wasn't a moment that made her feel the Universe. I know there are good schools out there with brilliant teachers but home education for us works just as school works for others. We've had moments of wonder and surprise. It's our life and we love it and if I ever get down again, lose my confidence and let things get to me can you please all kick me in the rear end. :)
xxx
Monday, 7 February 2011
The past week of February
Today we played bean bag games, used our feet to pick up stones and pop them into a basket and worked on a number of maths equations including some bar graph questions.
Yesterday we did a lot of Form Drawings. I love doing this. I've got a separate book for them at the moment and doing the outlines in yellow to aid Springy (she's in her 9-year change at the moment and everything seems to be a big trauma unless we take it back to something less stressful).
We baked some scones (with cranberries and raisins) and worked on negative numbers using the stairs and the keyboard. We used middle C as zero and worked up and down from there. We also had one stair as the zero stair and then went up and down from there too - it's just to give a quick overview to Springy so she can understand more about temperature etc later on.
Yesterday we did a lot of Form Drawings. I love doing this. I've got a separate book for them at the moment and doing the outlines in yellow to aid Springy (she's in her 9-year change at the moment and everything seems to be a big trauma unless we take it back to something less stressful).
We baked some scones (with cranberries and raisins) and worked on negative numbers using the stairs and the keyboard. We used middle C as zero and worked up and down from there. We also had one stair as the zero stair and then went up and down from there too - it's just to give a quick overview to Springy so she can understand more about temperature etc later on.
For Imbolc we
Friday, 28 January 2011
Poetry
This is a very useful resource (and I hope it will be ready to purchase soon becuase it sounds like a keeper for the bookcase):
http://www.waldorfpoetry.com/look-inside.html
I loved this poem by Dorothy Harrer:
We've also been working on the number 11 (using the Earth School Grade 2 Maths Block and augmenting it with our own ideas too). Springy has enjoyed being able to work out the multiples of 11 from double digit numbers and doing it as a trick.
E.g. 22 x 11 = 2_2
2+2 = 4 (put the four in the space)
22 x 11 = 242
We wrote out some sentences about 11 e.g. The Chancellor of the Exchequer lives at No 11 Downing Street and The Mariana Trench is 11km at its deepest point in the ocean and Aquarius is the eleventh sign of the Zodiac.
http://www.waldorfpoetry.com/look-inside.html
I loved this poem by Dorothy Harrer:
The Four Sentences by Dorothy Harrer
Commands
Listen to the night wind blow.
See the swirling flakes of snow.
Close the window. Shut the door.
Keep out the wild wind’s angry roar.
Light the fire. Let it blaze.
Exclamations
How wonderful the morning is!
Oh, what a sparkling day!
Sky’s blue around the golden sun!
The wind has died away!
Statements
The golden sun shines on the snow.
The trees blue shadows make.
The colours of God’s own rainbow.
Twinkle in each snowflake.
Questions
Where do snowflakes come from?
Why are they so white?
Who gives them each a separate form?
How far has been their flight?
And what creates the rainbow
In which each star of snow?
We've also been working on the number 11 (using the Earth School Grade 2 Maths Block and augmenting it with our own ideas too). Springy has enjoyed being able to work out the multiples of 11 from double digit numbers and doing it as a trick.
E.g. 22 x 11 = 2_2
2+2 = 4 (put the four in the space)
22 x 11 = 242
We wrote out some sentences about 11 e.g. The Chancellor of the Exchequer lives at No 11 Downing Street and The Mariana Trench is 11km at its deepest point in the ocean and Aquarius is the eleventh sign of the Zodiac.
Sunday, 23 January 2011
Irish dancing
Springy has been twice now to an Irish dancing class. She loves it. I'm so pleased because it's a good cardiac workout, along with being enjoyable and good for her co-ordination and posture. At the moment she's dancing barefoot and is doing "soft shoe" style reels. She picked up the 1-2-3 move in a week (practising on the farm tracks). It also reminded me of how I used to love dancing. I did ballet and tap until I was about 11 years old and in tap I used to get distinctions. I've been learning some of the moves so that I can help her practice at home.
Springy gave the guineapigs a bath this morning. It was new guineapig Martha's first time in a full bath bathtime. With piggies that means they go swimming. They look like mini capybaras (who are also South American creatures). Our dog fell asleep on one of my knees earlier. We played three rounds, as a family, of Bananagrams. We love the game - it's a good way to increase vocabulary and spelling awareness. I'm surprised how many words Springy knows at times. She's currently reading a book called Dog Detectives. I'm reading The Lord of the Rings - I read it every year. I see it as a holiday (since we don't have a holiday otherwise) to voyage to Middle Earth and read of first Bilbo Baggins' adventures in The Hobbit and then travel with Frodo and Sam. I liked the films but feel they fell short of the books by a long way.
I've been working on the garden a fair bit the past few days. It's been quite cold outside but dry enough to dig up some of the borders, pull out some of the old and decaying plants e.g. the angelica. I've kept back some of the angelica stalk to make a musical instrument with. We're also hoping to do some willow workshops over the next week as we're moving into our block on Shelters again. This time we're hoping to have some hands on opportunities.
We finished our Old Testament block. We've covered since last year Adam and Eve (which is about questioning and disobeying authority and the loss of innocence), Noah and His Ark, Joseph and his Coat and Moses in the Bulrushes. I dislike the Bible generally speaking because I find that the deity is rather nasty and into smiting. However, I took the stories that I felt had general wisdom in them and that would meet some of Springy's 9-year change aspects. It's interesting how prone to melancholy she is recently. She was always very sanguine in nature - happy, skippy, la-de-da like a butterfly. However, in the past 6 months we have much more of a huff and a "not fair" and general "I'm not doing that" going on. It's involved at times lots of psychological ploys including the melancholic empathy thing whereby I've done "Oh I remember that when I was your age..." Some of it has been peer influence. There are a few friends that I'm having to stop her seeing - they're not bad per se but they don't have the same curbs on pop culture that I prefer. I know that this too shall pass but it can be a little exhausting at times and also a little sad to see some of them go through this change into 'attitude'. Ho hum as some of my good friends would say.
Springy gave the guineapigs a bath this morning. It was new guineapig Martha's first time in a full bath bathtime. With piggies that means they go swimming. They look like mini capybaras (who are also South American creatures). Our dog fell asleep on one of my knees earlier. We played three rounds, as a family, of Bananagrams. We love the game - it's a good way to increase vocabulary and spelling awareness. I'm surprised how many words Springy knows at times. She's currently reading a book called Dog Detectives. I'm reading The Lord of the Rings - I read it every year. I see it as a holiday (since we don't have a holiday otherwise) to voyage to Middle Earth and read of first Bilbo Baggins' adventures in The Hobbit and then travel with Frodo and Sam. I liked the films but feel they fell short of the books by a long way.
I've been working on the garden a fair bit the past few days. It's been quite cold outside but dry enough to dig up some of the borders, pull out some of the old and decaying plants e.g. the angelica. I've kept back some of the angelica stalk to make a musical instrument with. We're also hoping to do some willow workshops over the next week as we're moving into our block on Shelters again. This time we're hoping to have some hands on opportunities.
We finished our Old Testament block. We've covered since last year Adam and Eve (which is about questioning and disobeying authority and the loss of innocence), Noah and His Ark, Joseph and his Coat and Moses in the Bulrushes. I dislike the Bible generally speaking because I find that the deity is rather nasty and into smiting. However, I took the stories that I felt had general wisdom in them and that would meet some of Springy's 9-year change aspects. It's interesting how prone to melancholy she is recently. She was always very sanguine in nature - happy, skippy, la-de-da like a butterfly. However, in the past 6 months we have much more of a huff and a "not fair" and general "I'm not doing that" going on. It's involved at times lots of psychological ploys including the melancholic empathy thing whereby I've done "Oh I remember that when I was your age..." Some of it has been peer influence. There are a few friends that I'm having to stop her seeing - they're not bad per se but they don't have the same curbs on pop culture that I prefer. I know that this too shall pass but it can be a little exhausting at times and also a little sad to see some of them go through this change into 'attitude'. Ho hum as some of my good friends would say.
Wednesday, 12 January 2011
Crow and Dog
There on the path was a crow. It was minding its own business when along came a certain defective Shih Tzu with a short, curled but wagging tail. "Play with me," the tail begged but the crow decided to jump to the ditch and then took off to the west, away from the lonely canine.
In other news, Springy has been working on a scrapbook about her pets. I had a beautiful scrapbook set which I had always intended to use but never got round to doing so. I find the whole thing too time consuming so I have been glad to pass it on to Springy. She seems to be really enjoying printing, writing, cutting out photos, sticking bits of paper and so into the book.We've also started a new book today. It's called the Children of Green Knowe. We're reading it aloud. Springy was leaping about during the story - she wants to be a wildebeest trying to cross a river with crocodiles in, during the migration season in Africa! She has an amazing imagination and she can leap off the floor from all fours onto the sofa in single bound.
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